Choosing a customer relationship management program is an important task for any realtor and must be well thought out to make the right decision. Your real estate CRM can have major impacts on the success of your company, in terms of retaining and managing customers.

There are a variety of different programs out there and not every tool will fit every real estate professional, so it’s imperative to look carefully and find one that works for you.

Here are a few factors that you should pay particular attention to when making your choice:

1. Compatibility and Cloud-Based

You must look at whether the CRM is compatible with other tools that you currently use within your business. Consider the software you currently work with and decide if the CRM you are looking at will work well alongside it.

Also, it is essential in this modern age that the CRM is cloud-based, meaning it can be accessed remotely. Agents work outside of the office and are constantly on the go; the CRM needs to be accessible no matter where they are working from.

2. Email Automation

This essentially means being able to recognize the potential buyers’ pattern of behaviour and automatically provide them with emails encouraging them to act on their past search history. A CRM tool that can do this for you saves you and your staff a lot of time performing repetitive tasks, such as sending carefully timed emails.

You will have more time to focus on running the business successfully, while resting assured that customers are being approached and retained in the background.

3. Social Media Functions

Any successful real estate company values the importance of social media in today’s ever-changing mobile-based world. If your CRM has the ability to generate and track leads on certain social media sites, you will be able to not only boost brand recognition but generate more business, too.

4. Ease of Use

To save time and effort, it is essential that any CRM program you invest in is easy to learn and use. It should allow you to easily keep in touch with customers, conduct follow-ups, track consumer behaviour, and maintain relationships with clients.

Make sure the chosen real estate CRM software incorporates the aspects that you need and that you will be able to use to generate leads and build on your client relationships.

5. Mobile App

Many real estate agents are not office-based these days and do not spend their days in front of a computer. With success comes the tasks of being out and about meeting buyers and liaising with clients, and so having a CRM that can be used on a mobile app makes sure that business can be managed from just about anywhere. You will also be able to lessen the chance of losing customers as you will be able to receive reminders and work on client retention by remembering to keep in touch on the go.

6. Customer Support

A great CRM program will have what can essentially be your own personal assistant working electronically in the background, keeping in touch strategically to sending out monthly newsletters and conducting automated lead capture. You should be able to relax knowing that all of this is happening in the background while you are out there running your business.

A good CRM software can vastly improve your efficiency, as long as the system matches the company’s needs. Some realtors may believe they can’t afford a CRM system in place, but in reality, they can’t afford to not invest in a CRM. Whether you are implementing CRM for the first time or looking to upgrade, always remember to look for the program that is not only tailored to your needs but can also grow with you as your business grows.